What’s New with the Common App: 2025–2026

Thanks to Common App for great webinar update today….Here’s points to remember come August 1st, 2025

 The 2025–2026 Common App cycle launches August 1, 2025. Below is a recap of the most important changes, features, and reminders for students and parents working through the application process. Whether you're applying to one school or twenty, these updates aim to make your experience smoother and more supportive.

✨ No Changes to Essay Prompts

·        The seven personal essay prompts will remain the same as last year, allowing students to begin drafting early.

·        This consistency helps students focus more on authentic storytelling than adjusting to new topics.

🆕 User Interface Update

•        The Common App now has a redesigned layout with a left-side navigation menu (instead of tabs on top).

•        Students will see clearer dashboards, progress tracking bars, and easier navigation between sections.

•        College Search, Financial Aid, and Scholarship tools have their own dedicated tabs under a new 'Explore' category.

✍️ Essay & Writing Section Changes

Ø  The Additional Information question is now limited to 300 words (down from 650).

Ø  The optional ‘Community Disruption’ question has been renamed to ‘Challenges and Circumstances’ to better reflect a broader range of personal hardships.

Ø  Students should only respond to this question if they have significant context to provide.

📋 Student Responsibilities Checklist Added

Ø  A new checklist in the Activities section lets students report significant responsibilities like caregiving, financial support, or household duties.

Ø  This optional section does not include an essay—just checkboxes to highlight unseen commitments.

 💸 Expanded Scholarship Matching

• The Common App now matches eligible students with local and national scholarships before they apply to college.

• Students with U.S. addresses are automatically matched; Colorado students must opt in during account creation.

• To be matched, complete your Profile, Education, and Activities sections early.

📬 Direct Admissions Offers

• Over 700,000 students received direct admissions offers this year from 136 colleges, including public institutions.

• Many offers come with waived requirements (e.g., no essays, no letters). Students can review offers directly in the application.

🏫 Community Colleges Now on Common App

• Students can now apply to a growing number of community colleges using the Common App.

• A new filter allows you to search specifically for associate-degree granting institutions.

📌 Final Reminders

• Students can add up to 20 colleges in their Common App account.

• Recommender and advisor invites DO NOT roll over after August 1—students must re-invite teachers and counselors after signing the new FERPA waiver.

• Counselor and teacher accounts remain active and may carry over students from previous years.

New Central Texas Medical School slated for 2023

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Temple Economic Development Corporation; Temple Health & Bioscience District

Nov 23, 2020, 11:40 ET

TEMPLE, Texas, Nov. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, announced plans to partner with Baylor College of Medicine to open a medical school campus in Temple, Texas.

The new campus, which is slated to open in fall 2023 with an inaugural class of 40 medical students, is part of Baylor Scott & White and Baylor College of Medicine's commitment to expand the pipeline of physicians and medical professionals in Central Texas. Beginning in 2023, the campus will increase by 40 students per year, welcoming 160 students over four years.

"This is a great opportunity to expand Baylor College of Medicine's outstanding medical education programs to a regional medical school campus," said Dr. Paul Klotman, president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine. "We are looking forward to being in Temple."  

This new source of medical talent will serve as an asset for Temple Economic Development Corporation (Temple EDC) in its business recruitment efforts to the Temple region, while the economic development organization's talent attracting marketing campaign, Meet Temple, will support the recruitment of students and healthcare professionals to the region.

Students will receive training from Baylor College of Medicine faculty members in the state-of-the-art facilities at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple, housed on the Baylor Scott & White Health campus in Temple.

Baylor School & White Medical Center – Temple will join a number of institutions that fuel Temple's medical education cluster, including Texas A&M University-Central Texas, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and Temple College's Texas Bioscience Institute. Already, about a fourth of Temple's jobs are in healthcare.

Temple Health and Bioscience District (THBD), which provides early-stage biotech companies with mentoring, funding, and access to office, lab and conference space, is another key partner in the effort.

"Our mission is to grow Temple's biotechnology corridor by nurturing early-stage companies," said Thomas Baird, Chairman of THBD. "A skilled workforce is paramount to their success, so the addition of a new state-of-the-art medical school campus to our life sciences ecosystem could not be more welcome. In addition, we look forward to supporting the growth of companies formed out of this new research partnership."

Among Temple's other health and life sciences institutions are McLane Children's Hospital, the only children's hospital between Dallas and Austin; and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the largest VA medical consortium in Texas and fourth largest in the United States.

About Temple Economic Development Corporation
The Temple Economic Development Corporation (Temple EDC) is a nonprofit organization that serves as the designated economic development entity for the City of Temple, Texas. Temple EDC strengthens relationships, builds partnerships, and provides solutions that cause entities to choose Temple. To learn more about doing business in Temple, visit TempleEDC.com.

About Temple Health & Bioscience District
The Temple Health & Bioscience District (THBD) was created as a result of legislation passed by the State of Texas in 2003. The first such district created in Texas, THBD is devoted to the development and creation of health, bioscience, biotechnology and life sciences opportunities in Temple, Texas. Temple is located halfway between San Antonio and Dallas on Interstate Highway 35 and is an emerging hub for medicine, medical research and technology. Visit www.templebioscience.com.

SOURCE Temple Economic Development Corporation; Temple Health & Bioscience District